Devil May Cry 2 is an action-adventure game released in 2003. It was created and published by Capcom for the PlayStation 2. The events of the game happen after Devil May Cry and Devil May Cry: The Animated Series, but before Devil May Cry 4.
The story takes place in modern times on a fictional island called Vie de Marli. It follows demon hunter Dante and island guardian Lucia as they work to stop a businessman named Arius from summoning the demon Argosax and gaining ultimate power. The story is shown mainly through cutscenes made using the game’s engine, along with some pre-recorded videos.
The game was developed by a team with less experience, which caused problems during its creation. These issues were noticed by players and critics, who gave the game mixed reviews. Many criticized the game for being easier than its predecessor and for changing Dante’s character traits. However, Devil May Cry 2 was successful in sales, helped create many traditions in the series, and encouraged its development team to improve their work for future games in the franchise.
Gameplay
In Devil May Cry 2, players control either Dante or Lucia as they move through different areas, fighting groups of monsters in fast-paced battles. The game includes missions with specific goals within the game world. After completing each mission, the player's performance is ranked from D (poor/"Don't Worry") to S (excellent/"Showtime") based on how quickly the mission is completed, the number of Red Orbs collected, the style of fighting, the use of items, and the amount of damage taken. Compared to other aspects of the game, the style judging system is considered the strictest in how it evaluates player performance.
Combat depends on the "style" shown during battles. A player's style rating improves by hitting enemies repeatedly while avoiding damage. This rating starts at "Don't Worry" and progresses to "Come On!", "Bingo", "Are You Ready?", and ends at "Showtime". If the character takes damage, the style rating resets to "Don't Worry".
The game's controls turn short button presses into complex actions on screen. A new feature in this game is an evasion button, which lets Dante or Lucia roll, dodge attacks, or run along walls. Another new feature is a weapon-change button, allowing players to switch between ranged weapons without opening the inventory screen.
The game also includes puzzle-solving and exploration. Players search their surroundings to find items and Red Orbs. Red Orbs are used to unlock new combat abilities. These orbs are called "the blood of demons" and are dropped by enemies when defeated. Dante and Lucia can also buy items to restore health or revive themselves if killed by an enemy attack.
The Devil Trigger ability lets Dante and Lucia transform into a demon form. This changes their appearance, increases their strength and defense, slowly heals their health, and allows them to use special attacks and other abilities, such as faster movement and the ability to fly. The Devil Trigger lasts as long as the Devil Trigger Gauge has power. This gauge fills by attacking or taunting enemies in normal form and drains when attacking in Devil Trigger form or using Devil Trigger-only attacks. A unique feature in this game is the Desperation Devil Trigger, an upgraded form of Devil Trigger available to Dante when his health is low.
After completing the Hard Mode with Dante, players can use Trish. Trish's gameplay is different from Dante's, though she shares some of his moves. She has her own unique sword combat style and can switch between the Sword of Sparda and hand-to-hand fighting. Unlike Dante and Lucia, Trish uses a power-up aura for her "Devil Trigger".
Plot
At a museum, a display item named the Medaglia catches the attention of Lucia, a group of demons, and Dante. After defeating their enemies, Lucia invites Dante to visit her homeland, an island called Vie de Marli. Located in the remote areas of the New World, Vie de Marli was once a safe place for people fleeing their homes, including those from different races, languages, and beliefs, as well as runaway slaves. These people shared a common ancient religion that began in the Mediterranean and spread to other regions. However, their beliefs were considered heretical in their original homes. Over time, their traditions blended, forming new religions that worshipped demons. To protect themselves, the people of Vie de Marli relied on priests from their cults, who were called "guardians."
In Vie de Marli, Dante meets Lucia’s mother, Matier. Long ago, Matier helped her husband, Sparda, banish Argosax, a powerful demon, from the island. Matier asks Dante to fight Arius, a businessman who controls the Uroboros Corporation. Arius claims to want to develop the island by mining its special ores, but his real goal is to gain immortality by summoning Argosax’s power using Arcanas, which are hidden holy relics. Dante flips a coin to decide whether to help; when it lands on heads, he agrees. Dante begins hunting demons and searching for Arius, while Lucia collects the Arcanas.
Dante and Lucia chase a Uroboros helicopter flying toward an oil platform. Lucia arrives first and confronts Arius, who reveals that she was once his artificial creation and that he believes she will one day turn against humans. He teleports her away. Later, Dante reunites with Lucia, who gives him the final Arcana before secretly entering the Uroboros tower to fight Arius. She fails and is captured. Matier then asks Dante to use the Arcanas to save Lucia. Dante flips the coin again; it lands on heads, and he agrees to help. Dante trades the Arcana for Lucia and fights Arius. Arius forces Dante to choose between saving Lucia or killing him.
Lucia, worried about the ritual and her own identity, questions how they can stop Arius. Dante reassures her he will find a way and leaves her to think. Soon after, Matier arrives and reminds Lucia that her bond with her mother is stronger than blood, encouraging her to continue fighting. Dante reaches the tower and finds Arius performing a ritual to gain immortality. Dante is not worried because he replaced the Medaglia with a regular coin. He fights Arius and defeats him with his pistols. Outside, Lucia demands Dante kill her, fearing she will become a demon. Before they resolve this, a powerful energy beam opens a portal to the demon world. Dante and Lucia argue over who should enter the portal to close it. Dante flips the coin again; it lands on heads, and he enters the portal to face Argosax, leaving the coin with Lucia.
After Dante leaves, Arius regains strength and demonic power. Lucia defeats Arius in battle. Inside the portal, Dante defeats Argosax. Finding the portal closed, Dante rides his motorcycle deeper into the demon realm. Later, Matier comforts Lucia, saying Sparda once returned from a similar journey. Lucia examines the coin Dante left and notices both sides are identical. Eventually, in Dante’s shop, Lucia thinks about him. A motorcycle’s sound is heard outside, and Lucia leaves to investigate. The story does not show whether Dante has returned.
Development
During the early 2000s, a team called Team Little Devils, part of Capcom Production Studio 4 and led by Hideki Kamiya—who had previously directed the successful game Resident Evil 2—developed Devil May Cry. After production on that game ended in summer 2001, Capcom’s management approved a sequel to be made by Capcom Production Studio 1, which focused on arcade games. The sequel was planned to release soon after the original to take advantage of its popularity.
The first director of Team Devil was a planner who had worked under Studio 1’s General Manager, Noritaka Funamizu. The team included many people who had previously worked on fighting games, some members from Team Little Devils, and new industry members like producer Tsuyoshi Tanaka and planner Bingo Morihashi. The team had about 40 to 50 developers. Kamiya believed the team change happened because Capcom wanted to balance profits by spreading major projects across different divisions rather than focusing them in one.
At the time, Capcom was unhappy with Studio 1’s financial results, and the team switch for Devil May Cry 2 reflected broader industry trends. Daigo Ikeno, a former Studio 1 member who worked on Devil May Cry 2 as a contract artist for character, monster, and stage designs, explained the situation.
Studio 4’s General Manager, Shinji Mikami, agreed to the switch because the game needed a large team, but he wanted the freedom to work on multiple projects. He believed Kamiya lacked experience working with smaller teams and assigned him to Viewtiful Joe. While finishing Devil May Cry, Kamiya first learned about the sequel from its original director, who asked him to share the game’s screenplay and design documents. Since Mikami did not inform Kamiya about the team change, and his work on the sequel faced delays and reboots, Kamiya initially thought he might be fired. Team Devil regularly communicated with Team Little Devils members for feedback on their work.
Devil May Cry 2 was set 10 years after the original game’s events. A producer disliked the original character Dante’s “joke-cracking” personality and wanted him to be more serious and mature. Morihashi believes the game’s story was written by an outside writer. Katsuya Akitomo, a veteran of Studio 1 and the series, was asked to make Dante’s lines and behavior funnier, as he was found to be too serious. Morihashi, who also worked as a novelist, only made small changes to dialogue and wrote subtitles, cautious due to his lack of experience. By the time he worked on the script, the story was already in the translation process, and the game’s bosses and stages were already designed. When the final script was submitted, he was asked to avoid major changes.
In Devil May Cry 2, the characters have few lines of dialogue and rarely take dramatic actions. Ikeno said Dante’s sudden silence seemed to suggest something serious happened between the original game and the sequel. Both Ikeno and Morihashi felt the lack of warm moments hurt the character Lucia’s likability, with Morihashi also feeling the same about Matier. Many Team Devil members liked Arius, the villain, because it was unique to have a CEO as a villain. Arius became a symbol of modern culture, opening the door for future stories beyond the fantasy world of the original game. Morihashi, who sees “love” as the series’ central theme, said Devil May Cry 2 is about Dante’s love for his father and how he protects what his father once protected.
Ikeno described the game’s visual style as similar to action-packed Hollywood B movies, approaching it like a live-action comic book adaptation. He designed the main characters’ clothing to look like real people would wear. New characters were created to contrast with Dante, with Lucia’s design also serving as a contrast to Trish’s, following a Capcom tradition of prioritizing fighting ability over attractiveness in female characters. Arius’ face was inspired by Colonel Douglas Mortimer, a character from For a Few Dollars More, and his look suggests he hides a dark secret.
Despite changes, Dante’s redesigned hair was fluffier, and his appearance emphasized elegance. However, some, like future character designer Tatsuya Yoshikawa, found his face too scary to play the game. Capcom illustrator Naru Omori created four cover images for Devil May Cry 2, but he was unsatisfied with the short three-week deadline. He was happy with one used on the packaging and the logo pose, which he completed during an all-nighter. Cutscenes were made by Links DigiWorks, a studio that worked on other Capcom games. Their work impressed Tanaka, leading to a television commercial mixing pre-rendered computer graphics with live-action footage.
Lucia’s skin color and shared accent with Matier reflect the multicultural background of their fictional world, Vie de Marli. This also influenced the creation of demons, whose names come from languages like Latin, Greek, and old Japanese. Ikeno based their designs on ancient depictions of demons, which often combined known elements, like lion heads and human bodies. Western influences included woodblock illustrations of the brazen bull, Norse mythology, the Bible, alchemical symbols, and pagan rituals. Eastern influences came from yōkai (supernatural creatures) and Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.
Arius was partly inspired by deep-sea creatures, and Arius-Argosax was based on East Asian dragons, as Ikeno believed humanoid dragon demons looked strongest. Argosax the Chaos, a boss that reused attacks from earlier enemies, received the most attention and had unusual coloring. Team Devil’s experience with arcade games influenced their approach to texture mapping, as they lacked resources for realistic textures and instead created handmade ones, making the game’s visuals more drawing-like compared to Devil May Cry, which used photographs for textures.
The option to play Devil May Cry 2 with Lucia came from player feedback. Surveys about the original game showed players disliked the locked camera angle and wanted smoother transitions. The sequel improved combat flow, reduced puzzle size, and allowed weapon switching during action. The game was designed to be easy for first-time players, with increasing difficulty through unlockable content. Combo charts for Dante and Lucia were printed on the covers of the Japanese and Korean versions of the game.
Marketing
Capcom partnered with Diesel, a clothing company known for working with game developers, because Devil May Cry 2 focused on style. According to Ikeno, the partnership was arranged through Tanaka, a former Diesel employee. Both sides believed that the visual styles of Devil May Cry 2 and Diesel’s designs would appeal to casual audiences. Three costumes (one for Dante, two for Lucia) were made using pieces from Diesel’s 2002 Autumn/Winter collection, which had nearly sold out before the game released. A belt created by Team Devil’s visual staff was also included as an unlockable item for players. Posters and kiosks showing a demo and trailer for Devil May Cry 2 were displayed in Diesel stores across Japan.
In Japan, a charm bracelet with a detachable steel miniature of Dante’s sword Rebellion was given to people who preordered the game first. A South Korea-exclusive limited edition included the bracelet and a black blouson printed with the game’s logo.
One year after the game’s release, Dante—featuring the design and personality from Devil May Cry 2—appeared as a boss and summonable ally in the Atlus RPG Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne Maniax. He later became available in the remastered version, Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne HD Remaster, by purchasing the "Maniax Pack" downloadable content.
At first, Capcom was unwilling to release an official soundtrack for Devil May Cry 2. After a test period in which Capcom aimed to collect 1,000 pre-orders as proof of demand, the soundtrack was released on October 15, 2004, as a two-disc set. Masato Kohda, Tetsuya Shibata, and Satoshi Ise were credited as producers.
Reception
The game received mixed reviews, according to the review website Metacritic. Many reviewers said the difficulty was lower than in the first game. The combat system was also criticized for not being as well-designed. Some weapons were described as weaker or stronger versions of the same weapon, instead of being completely different weapons with unique strengths and weaknesses. Boss battles were seen as requiring less strategy than the original game. The environments were less detailed than in the first game, with more open space. This made it harder to perform long sequences of moves and attacks because enemies were farther apart, which reduced one of the main features of the first game. Reviewers also did not like how Dante’s character changed. Adding a second disc was criticized as a way for the developers to increase replay value. However, the missions on the second disc were seen as reused material from Dante’s story, with only small changes. GameSpot named Devil May Cry 2 as the Most Disappointing Game of 2003. UGO Networks ranked Devil May Cry 2 as the 19th most disappointing game on its list, saying, “Devil May Cry was so good […] There was no way Devil May Cry 2 could’ve lived up to the hype, but it didn’t have to fail so spectacularly.”
Some reviews were positive. For example, PSXextreme said the environments looked worse only because they covered a larger area, and the lack of challenge was the main reason the game did not improve on its predecessor. Electronic Gaming Monthly praised the game’s control system and new ideas, including having two main characters on separate discs. Play magazine described Lucia’s story as “a cruel sonnet of self-realization wrapped in a story steeped in religious overtones,” saying the story alone was worth buying the game.
Capcom marketed Devil May Cry 2 as a major game for the year. It sold well, becoming one of the top ten best-selling games in the United Kingdom during the first half of 2003. It won the 500,000 yen Gold Prize at the 2003 PlayStation Awards for selling between 500,000 and 1 million copies in Japan by July. However, it did not meet the company’s sales goals: by the end of March 2003, the game had sold 1.4 million copies worldwide, slightly below the expected 1.66 million. This underperformance, along with challenges during its development, showed broader issues at Capcom. The cancellation of 18 other games being developed at the same time led the company to review projects more carefully during development. As of March 31, 2022, over 2.9 million copies of the game had been sold.